pipewire/doc/dox/config/pipewire-devices.7.md

\page page_man_pipewire-devices_7 pipewire-devices

PipeWire device and node property reference.

\tableofcontents

DESCRIPTION

Audio sinks and sources, cameras, Bluetooth endpoints, and other objects have properties that can be set in configuration files or at runtime.

Some of the properties are "common object properties" (e.g. such as node.description) and can be set on all types of devices and nodes. Other properties control settings of a specific type of a device (ALSA, Bluetooth, ...).

All the properties are usually configured in the session manager configuration. For how to configure them, see the session manager documentation.

In minimal PipeWire setups without a session manager, they can be configured via \ref pipewire_conf__context_objects "context.objects in pipewire.conf(5)".

RUNTIME SETTINGS @IDX@ device-param

The settings of most ALSA and virtual device parameters can be configured also at runtime.

The settings are available in device Props in the params field. They can be seen e.g. using pw-dump <id> for an ALSA device:

{
...
      "Props": [
        {
          ...
          "params": [
              "audio.channels",
              2,
              "audio.rate",
              0,
              "audio.format",
              "UNKNOWN",
              "audio.position",
              "[ FL, FR ]",
              "audio.allowed-rates",
              "[  ]",
              "api.alsa.period-size",
              0,
              "api.alsa.period-num",
              0,
              "api.alsa.headroom",
              0,
              "api.alsa.start-delay",
              0,
              "api.alsa.disable-mmap",
              false,
              "api.alsa.disable-batch",
              false,
              "api.alsa.use-chmap",
              false,
              "api.alsa.multi-rate",
              true,
              "latency.internal.rate",
              0,
              "latency.internal.ns",
              0,
              "clock.name",
              "api.alsa.c-1"
            ]
          }
...

One or more params can be changed using \ref page_man_pw-cli_1 "pw-cli(1)":

pw-cli s <id> Props '{ params = [ "api.alsa.headroom" 1024 ] }'

These settings are not saved and need to be reapplied for each session manager restart.

COMMON NODE PROPERTIES @IDX@ device-param

The properties listed in \ref client_conf__stream_properties "Stream properties" apply also to sink or source nodes corresponding to real or virtual devices.

In addition:

@PAR@ device-param priority.driver \parblock The priority of choosing this device as the driver in the graph. The driver is selected from all linked devices by selecting the device with the highest priority.

Normally, the session manager assigns higher priority to sources so that they become the driver in the graph. The reason for this is that adaptive resampling should be done on the sinks rather than the source to avoid signal distortion when capturing audio. \endparblock

@PAR@ device-param priority.session The priority for selecting this device as the default device.

@PAR@ device-param clock.name \parblock The name of the clock. This name is auto generated from the card index and stream direction. Devices with the same clock name will not use a resampler to align the clocks. This can be used to link devices together with a shared word clock.

In Pro Audio mode, nodes from the same device are assumed to have the same clock and no resampling will happen when linked togther. So, linking a capture port to a playback port will not use any adaptive resampling in Pro Audio mode.

In Non Pro Audio profile, no such assumption is made and adaptive resampling is done in all cases by default. This can also be disabled by setting the same clock.name on the nodes. \endparblock

@PAR@ device-param node.param.PARAM = JSON \parblock Set value of a node \ref spa_param_type "Param" to a JSON value when the device is loaded. This works similarly as \ref page_man_pw-cli_1 "pw-cli(1)" set-param command. The PARAM should be replaced with the name of the Param to set, ie. for example node.param.Props = { ... } to set Props. \endparblock

@PAR@ device-param device.id ID of the device the node belongs to.

COMMON DEVICE PROPERTIES @IDX@ device-param

These are common properties for devices.

@PAR@ device-param device.name A (unique) name for the device. It can be used by command-line and other tools to identify the device.

@PAR@ device-param device.param.PARAM = JSON \parblock Set value of a device \ref spa_param_type "Param" to a JSON value when the device is loaded. This works similarly as \ref page_man_pw-cli_1 "pw-cli(1)" set-param command. The PARAM should be replaced with the name of the Param to set, ie. for example device.Param.Props = { ... } to set Props. \endparblock

Other device.* properties: UNDOCUMENTED

AUDIO CONVERTER PROPERTIES @IDX@ device-param

Most audio nodes (ALSA, Bluetooth, ...) have common properties for the audio converter. See \ref client_conf__stream_properties "pipewire-client.conf(5) stream.properties" for explanations.

@PAR@ device-param clock.quantum-limit \ref pipewire_conf__default_clock_quantum-limit "See pipewire.conf(5)"

@PAR@ device-param channelmix.disable \ref client_conf__channelmix_disable "See pipewire-client.conf(5)"

@PAR@ device-param channelmix.min-volume \ref client_conf__channelmix_min-volume "See pipewire-client.conf(5)"

@PAR@ device-param channelmix.max-volume \ref client_conf__channelmix_max-volume "See pipewire-client.conf(5)"

@PAR@ device-param channelmix.normalize \ref client_conf__channelmix_normalize "See pipewire-client.conf(5)"

@PAR@ device-param channelmix.mix-lfe \ref client_conf__channelmix_mix-lfe "See pipewire-client.conf(5)"

@PAR@ device-param channelmix.upmix \ref client_conf__channelmix_upmix "See pipewire-client.conf(5)"

@PAR@ device-param channelmix.lfe-cutoff \ref client_conf__channelmix_lfe-cutoff "See pipewire-client.conf(5)"

@PAR@ device-param channelmix.fc-cutoff \ref client_conf__channelmix_fc-cutoff "See pipewire-client.conf(5)"

@PAR@ device-param channelmix.rear-delay \ref client_conf__channelmix_rear-delay "See pipewire-client.conf(5)"

@PAR@ device-param channelmix.stereo-widen \ref client_conf__channelmix_stereo-widen "See pipewire-client.conf(5)"

@PAR@ device-param channelmix.hilbert-taps \ref client_conf__channelmix_hilbert-taps "See pipewire-client.conf(5)"

@PAR@ device-param channelmix.upmix-method \ref client_conf__channelmix_upmix-method "See pipewire-client.conf(5)"

@PAR@ device-param channelmix.lock-volumes UNDOCUMENTED

@PAR@ device-param resample.quality \ref client_conf__resample_quality "See pipewire-client.conf(5)"

@PAR@ device-param resample.disable \ref client_conf__resample_disable "See pipewire-client.conf(5)"

@PAR@ device-param resample.peaks UNDOCUMENTED

@PAR@ device-param resample.prefill UNDOCUMENTED

@PAR@ device-param monitor.channel-volumes \ref client_conf__monitor_channel-volumes "See pipewire-client.conf(5)"

@PAR@ device-param dither.noise \ref client_conf__dither_noise "See pipewire-client.conf(5)"

@PAR@ device-param dither.method \ref client_conf__dither_method "See pipewire-client.conf(5)"

@PAR@ device-param debug.wav-path \ref client_conf__debug_wav-path "See pipewire-client.conf(5)"

@PAR@ device-param adapter.auto-port-config UNDOCUMENTED

ALSA PROPERTIES @IDX@ device-param

ALSA node properties:

@PAR@ device-param audio.channels The number of audio channels to open the device with. Defaults depends on the profile of the device.

@PAR@ device-param audio.rate The audio rate to open the device with. Default is 0, which means to open the device with a rate as close to the graph rate as possible.

@PAR@ device-param audio.format The audio format to open the device in. By default this is "UNKNOWN", which will open the device in the best possible bits (32/24/16/8..). You can force a format like S16_LE or S32_LE.

@PAR@ device-param audio.position The audio position of the channels in the device. This is auto detected based on the profile. You can configure an array of channel positions, like "[ FL, FR ]".

@PAR@ device-param audio.allowed-rates \parblock The allowed audio rates to open the device with. Default is "[ ]", which means the device can be opened in any supported rate.

Only rates from the array will be used to open the device. When the graph is running with a rate not listed in the allowed-rates, the resampler will be used to resample to the nearest allowed rate. \endparblock

@PAR@ device-param api.alsa.period-size The period size to open the device in. By default this is 0, which will open the device in the default period size to minimize latency.

@PAR@ device-param api.alsa.period-num The amount of periods to use in the device. By default this is 0, which means to use as many as possible.

@PAR@ device-param api.alsa.headroom The amount of extra space to keep in the ringbuffer. The default is 0. Higher values can be configured when the device read and write pointers are not accurately reported.

@PAR@ device-param api.alsa.start-delay Some devices require a startup period. The default is 0. Higher values can be set to send silence samples to the device first.

@PAR@ device-param api.alsa.disable-mmap Disable mmap operation of the device and use the ALSA read/write API instead. Default is false, mmap is preferred.

@PAR@ device-param api.alsa.disable-batch Ignore the ALSA batch flag. If the batch flag is set, ALSA will need an extra period to update the read/write pointers. Ignore this flag from ALSA can reduce the latency. Default is false.

@PAR@ device-param api.alsa.use-chmap Use the driver provided channel map. Default is false because many drivers don't report this correctly.

@PAR@ device-param api.alsa.multi-rate UNDOCUMENTED

@PAR@ device-param api.alsa.htimestamp = false Use ALSA htimestamps in scheduling, instead of the system clock. Some ALSA drivers produce bad timestamps, so this is not enabled by default and will be disabled at runtime if it looks like the ALSA timestamps are bad.

@PAR@ device-param api.alsa.disable-tsched = false Disable timer-based scheduling, and use IRQ for scheduling instead. The "Pro Audio" profile will usually enable this setting, if it is expected it works on the hardware.

@PAR@ device-param api.alsa.auto-link = false Link follower PCM devices to the driver PCM device when using IRQ-based scheduling. The "Pro Audio" profile will usually enable this setting, if it is expected it works on the hardware.

@PAR@ device-param latency.internal.rate Static set the device systemic latency, in samples at playback rate.

@PAR@ device-param latency.internal.ns Static set the device systemic latency, in nanoseconds.

@PAR@ device-param api.alsa.path UNDOCUMENTED

@PAR@ device-param api.alsa.open.ucm UNDOCUMENTED

@PAR@ device-param api.alsa.bind-ctls UNDOCUMENTED

@PAR@ device-param iec958.codecs Enable only specific IEC958 codecs. This can be used to disable some codecs the hardware supports. Available values: PCM, AC3, DTS, MPEG, MPEG2-AAC, EAC3, TRUEHD, DTSHD

BLUETOOTH PROPERTIES @IDX@ device-param

The following are settings for the Bluetooth module, not device or node properties:

@PAR@ device-param bluez5.roles \parblock Enabled roles (default: [ a2dp_sink a2dp_source bap_sink bap_source hfp_hf hfp_ag ])

Currently some headsets (Sony WH-1000XM3) are not working with both hsp_ag and hfp_ag enabled, so by default we enable only HFP.

Supported roles:

• hsp_hs (HSP Headset),
• hsp_ag (HSP Audio Gateway),
• hfp_hf (HFP Hands-Free),
• hfp_ag (HFP Audio Gateway)
• a2dp_sink (A2DP Audio Sink)
• a2dp_source (A2DP Audio Source)
• bap_sink (LE Audio Basic Audio Profile Sink)
• bap_source (LE Audio Basic Audio Profile Source) \endparblock

@PAR@ device-param bluez5.codecs Enabled A2DP codecs (default: all). Possible values: sbc sbc_xq aac aac_eld aptx aptx_hd aptx_ll aptx_ll_duplex faststream faststream_duplex lc3plus_h3 ldac opus_05 opus_05_51 opus_05_71 opus_05_duplex opus_05_pro opus_g lc3

@PAR@ device-param bluez5.default.rate Default audio rate.

@PAR@ device-param bluez5.default.channels Default audio channels.

@PAR@ device-param bluez5.hfphsp-backend HFP/HSP backend (default: native). Available values: any, none, hsphfpd, ofono, native

@PAR@ device-param bluez5.hfphsp-backend-native-modem

@PAR@ device-param bluez5.dummy-avrcp player Register dummy AVRCP player. Some devices have wrongly functioning volume or playback controls if this is not enabled. Default: false

@PAR@ device-param bluez5.enable-sbc-xq Override device quirk list and enable SBC-XQ for devices for which it is disabled.

@PAR@ device-param bluez5.enable-msbc Override device quirk list and enable MSBC for devices for which it is disabled.

@PAR@ device-param bluez5.enable-hw-volume Override device quirk list and enable hardware volume fo devices for which it is disabled.

@PAR@ device-param bluez5.hw-offload-sco \parblock HFP/HSP hardware offload SCO support (default: false).

This feature requires a custom configuration that routes SCO audio to ALSA nodes, in a platform-specific way. See tests/examples/bt-pinephone.lua in WirePlumber for an example. Do not enable this setting if you don't know what all this means, as it won't work. \endparblock

@PAR@ device-param bluez5.a2dp.opus.pro.channels = 3 PipeWire Opus Pro audio profile channel count.

@PAR@ device-param bluez5.a2dp.opus.pro.coupled-streams = 1 PipeWire Opus Pro audio profile coupled stream count.

@PAR@ device-param bluez5.a2dp.opus.pro.locations = "FL,FR,LFE" PipeWire Opus Pro audio profile audio channel locations.

@PAR@ device-param bluez5.a2dp.opus.pro.max-bitrate = 600000 PipeWire Opus Pro audio profile max bitrate.

@PAR@ device-param bluez5.a2dp.opus.pro.frame-dms = 50 PipeWire Opus Pro audio profile frame duration (1/10 ms).

@PAR@ device-param bluez5.a2dp.opus.pro.bidi.channels = 1 PipeWire Opus Pro audio profile duplex channels.

@PAR@ device-param bluez5.a2dp.opus.pro.bidi.coupled-streams = 0 PipeWire Opus Pro audio profile duplex coupled stream count.

@PAR@ device-param bluez5.a2dp.opus.pro.bidi.locations = "FC" PipeWire Opus Pro audio profile duplex coupled channel locations.

@PAR@ device-param bluez5.a2dp.opus.pro.bidi.max-bitrate = 160000 PipeWire Opus Pro audio profile duplex max bitrate.

@PAR@ device-param bluez5.a2dp.opus.pro.bidi.frame-dms = 400 PipeWire Opus Pro audio profile duplex frame duration (1/10 ms).

Device properties

@PAR@ device-param bluez5.auto-connect Auto-connect devices on start up. Disabled by default if the property is not specified.

@PAR@ device-param bluez5.hw-volume = [ PROFILE1 PROFILE2... ] Profiles for which to enable hardware volume control (default: [ hfp_ag hsp_ag a2dp_source ]).

@PAR@ device-param bluez5.profile Initial device profile. This usually has no effect as the session manager overrides it.

@PAR@ device-param bluez5.a2dp.ldac.quality LDAC encoding quality Available values:

• auto (Adaptive Bitrate, default)
• hq (High Quality, 990/909kbps)
• sq (Standard Quality, 660/606kbps)
• mq (Mobile use Quality, 330/303kbps)

@PAR@ device-param bluez5.a2dp.aac.bitratemode AAC variable bitrate mode. Available values: 0 (cbr, default), 1-5 (quality level)

@PAR@ device-param bluez5.a2dp.opus.pro.application = "audio" PipeWire Opus Pro Audio encoding mode: audio, voip, lowdelay

@PAR@ device-param bluez5.a2dp.opus.pro.bidi.application = "audio" PipeWire Opus Pro Audio duplex encoding mode: audio, voip, lowdelay

Node properties

@PAR@ device-param bluez5.media-source-role \parblock Media source role for Bluetooth clients connecting to this instance. Available values:

• playback: playing stream to speakers
• input: appear as source node. \endparblock

ALSA CARD PROFILES @IDX@ device-param

The sound card profiles ("Analog stereo", "Analog stereo duplex", ...) except "Pro Audio" come from two sources:

• UCM: ALSA Use Case Manager: the profile configuration system from ALSA. See https://github.com/alsa-project/alsa-ucm-conf/
• ACP ("Alsa Card Profiles"): Pulseaudio's profile system ported to PipeWire. See https://www.freedesktop.org/wiki/Software/PulseAudio/Backends/ALSA/Profiles/

See the above links on how to configure these systems.

For ACP, PipeWire looks for the profile configuration files under

• ~/.config/alsa-card-profile
• /etc/alsa-card-profile
• /usr/share/alsa-card-profile/mixer`.

The path and profile-set files are in subdirectories paths and profile-sets of these directories. It is possible to override individual files locally by putting a modified copy into the ACP directories under ~/.config or /etc.

AUTHORS

The PipeWire Developers <$(PACKAGE_BUGREPORT)>; PipeWire is available from <$(PACKAGE_URL)>

SEE ALSO

\ref page_man_pipewire_conf_5 "pipewire.conf(5)"